Who We Are

Da Gama Textiles is one of South Africa’s oldest and largest vertically integrated textile producers. We produce niche branded fabrics, including the internationally-recognised Three Cats Original Shweshwe, as well as a wide range of home, furnishing, traditional, workwear, medical fabrics and Technical textiles.

Da Gama Textiles was established in 1946 as Good Hope Textile Corporation (Pty) Ltd as a spinner, weaver, dyer, printer and finisher of cotton-based textiles. From the company’s inception, our fabrics have been in high demand due to their unique design and consistent quality.

Being a naturally durable, breathable and wickable fibre, cotton fabrics are versatile in their applications. With our diverse in-house printing capabilities, we produce ranges full of stunning colours, patterns and colourways, bringing a touch of style to any textile project or collection.

Da Gama Textiles employs most of its 500+ staff from the surrounding Zwelitsha settlement, providing one of the largest sources of employment in this area of the Eastern Cape. Our vertical manufacturing capabilities allow us to process up to 15 million machine metres each month, positioning us as the largest textile mill in South Africa.

Our strategic vision is to incorporate more technical fibres and finishing options into our value offering for both our current, and future markets.

As a South African institution, we are a core component of many local value chains, large and small. We supply fabrics for large-scale contracts and tenders utilising locally-sourced raw materials, while offering many rural families with a means to manufacture goods to be sold in the community on a micro-economic scale.

Da Gama’s history of ownership took a positive turn in 2014 when the company was purchased by Neil Cowie of the successful, family-owned Cowie Trading businesses. This was a perfect opportunity for both companies to capitalise on their existing supplier/customer relationship. Da Gama Textiles has been manufacturing fabrics of quality for Cowie Trading for decades and the infusion of new ownership has resulted in an explosion of creative design work, not only for our shweshwe range, but for the rest of the home and furnishing ranges.

In order to streamline Da Gama Textile’s business operations, the sales force now falls under Cowie Trading. This gives customers access to a more varied product range, as well as the diverse combined knowledge and experience of our sales team and representatives.